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The city is planning to tow vehicles as part of its revised spring street cleaning plan, but the job is still expected to drag into July.

Vehicles in the way of sweepers will now be towed nearby so crews can do a good first pass, said Doug Morgan, the acting general manager of transportation. Ticketing will be at the discretion of the Calgary Parking Authority.

“We will still have issues with how long it's going to take. It will be past Stampede when we'll have that first pass done, but we think that's probably a good step in order to make sure we've been effective as we can on our first pass of spring cleaning.”

Like all city operations, spending in the roads department was cut by 10 per cent in this year's budget. That means street sweepers will only make one pass. Without any overtime, it will take twice as long to complete the normally eight-week long spring clean-up.

Vehicle owners could get tickets

Bringing back towing could cost $135,000, but officials expect to recover $65,000 of that through ticket revenue.

Despite what Morgan told council Monday morning, a transportation department spokesman says the decision has yet to be made on restoring the policy of towing away vehicles that are in the way of street sweepers.

“Over the last several weeks we’ve heard from Calgarians, and transportation will be working with the mayor and council towards a solution to balance the wants of citizens and still be responsible in the context of our budget," said spokesman Sean Somers in an email.

Mayor wants more changes

Mayor NaheedNenshi said members of city council are not happy with the delays in the spring clean-up and will work with officials on more changes.

He expects to report back to council at its next regular meeting on April 28.